16th in a 25-part series written in 1986 by Bill Knight in commemoration of Don Haskins' first 25 years as UTEP's head basketball coach.

11/11/1985

"I'd been a Miner fan since they won the national championship in '66. I always wanted to go to UTEP. I used to live near the airport and I remember walking over there to watch the team come in after they won the championship. I think I was kind of prepared for the drill sergeant."
- Jake Poole

It was a season of contrasts: a season of success; a season of near-misses.

So it went for Don Haskins & Co. in 1975-76. The Miners won 20 basketball games again, finishing 20-7. But UTEP was passed over when it came to NCAA Tournament bids.

Jake Poole led the Miners to that 20-win season, averaging 13.3 points per game and making first team all-Western Athletic Conference. Gary Brewster was there, too, bad back and all, averaging 12.1 points per game. And Ron Jones teamed with Poole to give the Miners one solid backcourt.

But when it came down to that final game, the Miners fell a point short, costing them a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Poole, now a supervisor for a turbo machine company in San Diego, recalls the final game.

"We played the Lobos in the Pit," he said. "There was a black boycott, so they played us with JV's and a couple of guys who were just hanging around. There were 17,000 people in there and that was the loudest game I've ever been in.

“I'd been a Miner fan since they won the national championship in '66. I always wanted to go to UTEP. I used to live near the airport and I remember walking over there to watch the team come in after they won the championship.”

Jake Poole

"They beat us by one point (59-58)," Poole added. "That was disappointing (not making the playoffs) because we had a good record. But, really, I guess we didn't deserve it after losing to New Mexico. That's a game I'll always remember, though not for the best of reasons."

The Miners had won seven of their last eight games going into that finale with the Lobos, but simply fell a bucket short on the season. Haskins remembers players from that team.

"Jake was a good player," the Bear said. "He was really a good shooter. You know, for some reason, he didn't even start a lot on his high school team (Burges), but when he came in he always played well.

"Ron Jones was tough as a boot," Haskins added. "He really didn't shoot that well when he came here, but he improved each year. Poole and Jones were really an outstanding pair of guards."

Poole said, "As the years went on, Coach Haskins mellowed out a little. But he's still tough from start to finish.

"I remember the summer before my sophomore year. Coach Haskins called me in and told me I probably wouldn't play much. So I really went to work. That's probably the hardest I've ever worked, the best shape I'd ever reported in. And I won the starting job. Now I tend to think back, wonder if that wasn't why he told me that."

The work continued to pay off, with Poole's all-WAC success as a junior. However, even though Poole would have another good year as a senior, the Don Haskins winning tradition would come to a jolting, rather shocking halt the next season.